


Concentration

by Control_Room



Series: Charlotte, Joey, and... Joey? [7]
Category: Bendy and the Ink Machine
Genre: Anger Management, Custody Arrangements, Estrangement, Fun, Gen, Growth, Healthy Coping Mechanisms, Sweet, a pretty gentle fic, discussion of reconciliation, rage room, soft
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-04
Updated: 2020-11-04
Packaged: 2021-03-09 01:41:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27376636
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Control_Room/pseuds/Control_Room
Summary: No repeats or hesitation.
Relationships: Joey Drew & Joey Drew
Series: Charlotte, Joey, and... Joey? [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1568356
Comments: 2
Kudos: 3





	Concentration

Jekyll gratefully accepted the cup of cool water that Johan offered him after he left the rage room. Initially he had been reluctant to try out the venting style, worried that it would make him somehow all the more angry, or worse, create an open gate for Hyde. Neither of those things had happened yet, being that Johan, wise as he was, had him on a therapeutic regime that made the room not the only way he would cope with his anger, and a long list of meditative and calming techniques made their residence in his mind. He took the paperwork from Johan, a checklist for monitoring if he was using the room properly, for the right reasons, and in the correct mindset. The first time he had used the rage room, Johan’s eyes had gone comically wide and he banned him from it for a month. 

Looking back, he understood why, but then he pouted and, honestly, acted a bit like an overgrown two year old. Jekyll found the room, well, fun. And it still was, now that he was back in, but now it was far more cathartic and less… conditioning, as Johan called it when he had explained that first time. 

Jekyll felt himself smile when he saw Johan nod approvingly. 

“You’ve made a lot of p-progress lately, Doctor,” he praised, patting his shoulder, smile beaming broadly. Jekyll snorted at the nickname. “Would you care to join me and Ray for tea?”

“Oh, sure,” he nodded, slipping his coat from off the peg and putting it on. “It’s always a pleasure to spend some time with you.” 

Johan seemed to glow with that statement, and replaced the clipboard on the shelf it belonged. Within a few minutes, they made their way to Johan’s apartment and were happily chatting between each other about various nonsense, how Jekyll’s experiments of voodoo science were going in his attempts to banish Hyde from his mind, Johan’s very quick explanation on how teleportation via wormhole was feasible in nearly every single dimension, even those that did not support magic. They were in their animated discussion when Ray entered, hanging up his stethoscope and lab coat. He waved at Jekyll, and immediately went back downstairs, likely to speak to a worker before the day was out. 

Jekyll noticed Johan looking at him. It was not a  _ usual _ look, nor was it disturbing, but it was an odd look nonetheless. Jekyll’s smile changed slightly and he tapped the man’s wrist, making him jump out of his seat, shocked out of his thoughts. He blushed and frantically apologized to the stout man, who laughed it off and shook his head. 

“You looked distant,” he explained. “Thought I’d bring you back into the world of the current.” 

“Ah, well, I was thinking of d-days past,” Johan confirmed, leaning back now that his heart rate allowed him to relax. “Do you… know where your brother lives? I know that you t-two have been estranged… yet did you ever learn?”

“No,” Jekyll remarked, surprised, and almost bitter, but that edge drained from his voice within moments. “No, I never did learn where he moved. Likely out west. Perhaps even to California, finding an animation job over there.”

“I see,” Johan hummed, stirring in more sugar. “Well, it’s no matter-- simple curiosity gettin’ the b-better of me as always.” He smiled, shaking his head at himself. 

“I haven’t spoken to him since he left,” Jekyll reminisced with a sigh. “After he learned that… my choices were not exactly moral.” 

“Do you, ah, agree with his choice?”

“I… well… it’s complicated,” Jekyll grimaced. “While I wish he hadn’t left me, as I was clearly, put bluntly, unstable, for that very same reason I completely understand why he  _ did _ leave. At times I wish he had reported my doings, and at the same time, I’m very grateful that he didn’t.” 

From then on, Johan made absolutely no mention of Henry. 

***

“Hey jellybeandrop,” Johan greeted. The small ram-like girl sprang up and hugged his pant leg. He picked her up happily, under the half suspicious, half curious watch of Snowy. “How’s my favorite ink niece been doing?” 

“I’m your only ink niece,” she giggled, hugging his face now that she was at level. She placed a dollop of pink paint onto his nose. “Boop!”

He wiped it and put a similar dot where her nose would have been. 

The two chatted for a little bit, Johan sitting on the ground to allow her better access to him in general. It was a delightful thing to watch, Snowy thought. Johan was rather excellent with children, reverent and fascinated by their very being. He spun her around when she requested, helped her with her homeschool homework, and was very patient and understanding. 

“Ivy, my dear,” he spoke before he prepared to leave, kneeling. “Would you like to m-make a man very, very confused, as well as perhaps making him lean to giving a shot at reconciliation w-with his estranged for thirty years brother? There w-will be free shenanigans and likely someone will get punched in the face in the end, and I will certainly record that for you.”

“Free shenanigans, you say?” the ink sheep asked, raising her browline. Johan nodded; “Absolutely, one hundred percent free shenanigans. You will b-be able to drink all his soda, as long as….”

“As long as it’s decaf,” Ivy finished for him, giggling. “Hm. Do I get to ride on your shoulders?” 

“Absolutely.”

“You’ve got yourself a deal, Mister Ramirez,” she cackled, climbing up onto him. “Just not tonight, me, Joy, and MJ are gonna watch a movie, with extra buttery popcorn. You know I love me some kernels of caryopses that are exploded via heat and smothered with a ton of very swirled milk.”

“Sounds like a delight,” the lactose intolerant man remarked. “But deal it is. I will pick y-you up… whenever he’ll be ready for that.”

“Alrighty! See ya Uncle Jo!” 

“Goodbye for now, jellybeandrop.”


End file.
